Before a given medical procedure can be performed, it is necessary to assemble all of the instruments, supplies, drugs, and other preparations that are likely to be needed for the procedure and arrange them on or near a procedure tray so that they are accessible to the doctor or technician performing the procedure. Because it can be difficult to locate additional equipment once a procedure has started, especially when an emergency situation arises, items must be provided even if there is only a small chance that they will be needed. Furthermore, different procedures require different combinations of instruments and drugs, and it can be time consuming for a nurse or technician to determine whether the proper combination has been supplied in any given instance.
After equipment has been provided and arranged for use, it must all be kept clean, and many instruments must also be kept sterile. If the equipment is laid out too far in advance of the commencement of a procedure, the chance of someone breaking sterility increases, and then contaminated items must be replaced with sterile items. It is therefore desirable to prepare for a procedure as close to the time of the procedure as possible. However, because it takes time to locate and assemble all of the necessary equipment, and because the schedules of persons preparing for and performing the procedure can vary, it is often not possible to do the preparation work as close to the start time for the procedure as desirable.
Once a procedure commences, care must be taken to keep blood and other bodily fluids from contaminating unused equipment. It is also important to keep items arranged in a logical manner so that the person performing the procedure, or his assistant, will be able to locate the items quickly. Awkwardly sized implements, such as catheters and the guide wires used in angiographic procedures, must be carefully monitored to prevent them from touching non-sterile surfaces, knocking over containers, pushing other instruments off of a work surface, or getting bent or tangled with themselves or other equipment. The efforts and attention of persons assisting in the procedure must remain focused on these objectives while at the same time trying to provide the support required by the physician. This requires that the attention of assistants be divided in a less than ideal manner.
A large number of towels, needles, gowns, drapes and other materials will become contaminated during any given procedure. These items must be disposed of properly either during the procedure or immediately thereafter. Needles and other sharps must be placed in a suitable protective container to prevent them from injuring persons coming in contact with the waste, gowns and drapes must be laundered or disposed of in a manner that protects persons handling the waste, and instruments used during the procedure must either be cleaned and sterilized or discarded. Again, this is a time consuming process, and one which requires thought on the part of those involved to ensure that all medical waste finds its way to the appropriate receptacle. A lapse in concentration could result in persons unknowingly being exposed to dangerous medical waste.
Furthermore, the nature and number of instruments, and the amounts of various preparations used must be monitored so that a patient can accurately be charged. The large number of items required for any given procedure complicates this accounting procedure, and furthermore, occupies the time of medical personnel that could better be used to provide patient care. It would therefore be desirable to provide a kit, priced as a single unit, for containing all of the equipment and supplies necessary for performing a given procedure in a manner that allows for rapid set up and clean up, and which helps to organize the materials during a procedure while minimizing contamination between sterile and non-sterile objects.